Mission Number One
by missmemoriarty
Summary: Caroline is framed for Elena's murder by Division and is taken in. What no one knows is that she's a member from Alex's past - a friend from within the web of human trafficking. Now that Alex is somewhat out, she'll do anything to save Caroline from Division. Complications arise when Klaus tries to break her out and she struggles to keep her vamp secret. Rated T because.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note – This is just an idea that popped into my head. I dedicate this to my awesome friend (you know who you are) because why not? I'll continue if there's enough feedback and whatnot, or I'll just continue anyway who knows… Anyway I hope y'all like it and I'll see if this goes anywhere. It won't really follow the plot of either show, though it takes place about season 4 of TVD and beginning of season 2 of Nikita.**

**Disclaimer – I don't own TVD or Nikita.**

Caroline walked into the house, blond hair falling in ways about her head. "Hello?" She called, wandering deeper into the heart of the Salvatore house. "Elena? I got your text, what's wrong?" Her eyes landed on everything in the house but failed to register any sign of someone home. Having decided that the main level was clear she ventured downstairs. She knew there wasn't going to be anyone down in the cell, but something in the back of her mind urged her to check anyway.

What she found stopped her in her tracks.

"Elena…" Caroline breathed, panic threatening to take over. She ran over to Elena, kneeling over where she lay. Her body was cold, her skin barely recognizable. The stake that was buried deep in her heart had been there a long time. The ability to fight her emotions lost, tears spilled down the blonde's cheeks. "Oh, Elena, I'm so sorry!" She cried, unable to stop herself from getting worked up. Wrenching the stake out of her friend's chest, she looked around frantically, mind void of any idea what to do.

Pulling out her phone, she dialed the first number that came to mind.

He answered on the first ring.

"Caroline?" The hybrid's voice questioned from the other end. "Love, what's wrong?"

Ignoring the fact that she had no idea why she thought to call him first, she plunged ahead. "Klaus, i-it's Elena. Sh-she's _dead!_" She tried to slow her uneven breathing. Before she could speak again, however, the line went dead. "Hello?!" She yelled into the unresponsive phone, panic continuing to threaten her grip on self-control. "He—" She stopped suddenly upon hearing movement upstairs.

Wiping away her tears, she crept upstairs to see who was in the house. It wasn't anyone she knew – she'd have been able to recognize them. When she reached the top of stairs she was met with a group of mysterious people in black.

"You!" One of them called, a stern expression on his face. He face was hard, his jaw tight. Caroline guessed he was the leader.

She tried to look innocent, wiping away all thoughts of supernatural occurrences and unnatural deaths. "Loo—" She tried to explain herself, but before she could get the words out men had descended upon her. _I must keep my secret,_ she thought, her body frozen, _they can't know about this town._ They grabbed her and tied her up, carried her off to a place unbeknownst to the entire country.

…

When Caroline awoke the first thing she noticed was white. White everywhere. White walls, white ceiling, white floor. It made her nauseous. Then she noticed the man sitting next to her. The same one from earlier, a stern expression still on his face. She guessed it rarely ever left.

"Who are you?" The questions shot out of her mouth automatically. "Where am I? What am I doing here?" She refused to meet his eyes.

"Well," the man began, leaning closer to her. "My name is Michael, and this is Division." His voice lowered, "We don't really do this anymore, but for you we had to make an exception." Her head snapped up. "You're here because you killed –"

Head lowering, she interrupted him. "I didn't kill Elena! She was dead when I got there!" Her breathing became faster and she had to close her eyes to calm herself down.

"That's not what the state says." He never raised his voice, the tone never wavered. "But that doesn't matter. You're not in Virginia anymore." She looked up again. Though she glared into his dark eyes, she said nothing. "Your death," he began again, this time getting up to walk around the small room, "was officially ruled as a suicide. Your ashes are stored here." He held up a picture, and Caroline looked away quickly.

Frowning down at her shoes, she spoke softly. "Why?

The man stopped walking to look at her. "Because you have potential," and with that he left the room.

…

Klaus stared down at his silent phone. He hadn't moved in what felt like hours. From his home in New Orleans, he felt worlds away from Caroline. Though he would never admit it, he was worried. Finally clearing his head enough to walk outside, he took a few tentative steps toward the front door. Before he could leave, he was met with a familiar face.

"Elijah!" Klaus exclaimed – well, he rather muttered aggressively. "Elijah, I –"

Elijah lifted his hand, cutting his brother off. "No time for that, brother. I'm afraid I've got some troubling news." The hybrid raised an eyebrow, inviting his sibling to continue. "Caroline is dead."

Klaus's eyes widened; his signature faint grin dropped. Elijah looked at him, imploring him to speak up, but no response came. Time seemed to stop, and for a few seconds everything was in extreme slow motion. The hybrid's eyes grew dark and his jaw set. Never before had he felt such anger, such rage. And, beneath all the violent emotions, there was something else: sadness.

"_No,_" Klaus spat under his breath, "This isn't possible." Before Elijah could stop him, his brother had stomped out of the house, toward a destination he wasn't likely give up just yet. "They said this wouldn't happen. Not to the ones I care about." He was muttering angry accusations under his breath as Elijah hurried to follow him.

"They?" Elijah asked, concerned.

Klaus's steps didn't falter; he just uttered a single word – a word that felt like poison in his mouth: "Division."

…

Caroline sat by herself in what could be called a cafeteria. She stared down angrily at the white lunch table, standing on the white floor. _So much white, _she thought distastefully._ It's pitiful. _She looked up after about seven minutes of mind-melting thoughts only to see a face she had never expected to see again in her entire immortal life.

"_Alex?!_" Her voice rang out across the room, causing every conversation to stop and all eyes to turn toward her. Including the eyes of Alexandra Udinov.

The brunette's mouth visibly dropped open; her eyes went wide in shock. She seemed to barely be able to get the blonde's name out from between her lips. "C-Caroline?!"

The two ran towards each other, embracing and laughing, disbelief hanging in the air around them.

"How can this be?" Caroline nearly cried, "I haven't seen you in forever!"

Before Alex could reply a familiar voice sounded from behind her. "Alex, we have to go." Caroline recognized him immediately as the man who had told her why she was here. She nearly threw up at the sight of his face. His eyes pleaded with Alex to say yes. "It's _urgent_." Alex's eyes darted from Michael to Caroline, and upon coming to a conclusion, she hooked her arm through her long-lost friend's.

Ignoring Michael, she smiled at the blonde. "Care to join me, Care?"

Pushing her uneasy feelings aside, Caroline decided to play optimist, and she smiled widely at the brunette. Taking it as a sign to proceed, Alex led the vampire to where she knew Nikita would be waiting with another mission.

The minute they passed through the threshold into the private room where Nikita, Birkoff, Ryan, and Sean were standing stiffly, Alex dropped Caroline's arm and her smile faded. "Alright, cut the shit," her voice was hard. "I already ran into Irina, and you can guess by my current attitude that that meeting didn't go so well." She sighed and rubbed her temples, "You were out! You were free! I wasn't supposed to ever see you again!"

Caroline frowned, her blonde hair falling around the sides of her face. "It's not my fault I was dragged back into your web of misfortune! Ask _Michael_ here why I was brought in." The room fell silent as all eyes turned toward Michael. Nikita raised an eyebrow and stared at him expectantly.

Michael instead focused only on Caroline. "I've heard things about you," he began. "Things I can't explain, so I brought you here so I could figure you out." His voice lowered, "but I swear, if you turn out to be another Alexandra Udinov I will put my fist through Birkoff's favorite computer!"

Alex looked offended. Birkoff looked like he wanted to cry. Nikita, Ryan, and Sean had plastered blank expressions on their faces. Caroline almost looked nervous, but she quickly buried it under her rage and confusion as to why she was here.

The blonde looked right into his eyes. "And I swear to you," her voice was hard, mirroring what she felt. "If you think you're getting _anything_ out of me, then you must be crazy enough to give a cannibal your right hand." _Wow, _she thought to herself,_ Where did that come from? _She shrugged,_ Oh well, at least it got my point across._

And with that she strolled out of the room and back to her lonely lunch table.

…

Alex and Nikita were finally alone.

"Nikita, please!" Alex begged, her face looking almost broken. "Caroline can't become a part of Division! I don't care how it's getting better! She was never meant to become a part of all this!"

Nikita tried to calm her down. "Alex, shhhhh…" she whispered, "Speak clearly. Now, who is Caroline Forbes?"

"We met in the trade ring," the Russian began, slowing her breathing. "Like Irina, I'd thought she'd gotten out. Thank goodness she actually had. She escaped to a town called Mystic Falls, Virginia. She found a family, a home." She paused, gathering her thoughts. "And now she's back in my web of disaster!"

Nikita knelt down in front of Alex. "Alex, this is not your fault. I promise I will help you do whatever it takes to get her out of here and back to her home. _Whatever it takes._"

"Thanks, Nikita," Alex smiled slightly. "Because that girl has secrets, and Division can't get a hold of them. It would mean destruction for everyone."

**Author's Note – So this is chapter one… Let me know if y'all like it and maybe I'll continue… Anyway, sorry for any OOCness, I just wanted to get all my ideas out. R&amp;R and I might be back soon! :) {THAT OUAT PREMIERE THOUGH}**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So it's been about two years since I've been on. Sorry about that. After noticing this story had been viewed/followed/reviewed recently, I decided I'd try to continue it. I'm sorry in advance because I completely forgot where I was going with this and I'm a little rusty, but we'll see if we can make it work. As always, I appreciate every review, follow, etc. Have fun and welcome back.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own TVD or Nikita.**

It had been one week since Caroline Forbes had been sucked into Division.

One week of Michael personally training her "because he had nothing better to do". She knew better - he wanted her secrets. It had been a while since Caroline had had to purposefully make herself seem weak, but after a brief period of adjustment she was successfully fooling Michael into believing she had no more strength in her entire body than he did in his left pinky.

One week of Nikita and Alex plotting an "accidental" escape for Caroline. They hadn't gotten far, as they were being watched by Michael 24/7. Alex did her best to help Caroline adjust, but she was still cautious of the whole situation to fully revert back into their old friendship. The worst were the questioning glances and half-assed glares from people who didn't like Caroline's "special treatment". Alex and Caroline rarely got a moment alone, and when they did it always consisted of the Russian insisting Caroline brief her on how well she's been keeping her secrets in an institution that prides itself on _breeding_ secrets. To which Caroline would respond that as long as Michael thought she was useless, he wouldn't ask her to do much more than train. Training, she could handle - missions, or anything above that, would be a bit tricky.

During a particularly frustrating training session one overcast day (at least Caroline thought it was overcast - she couldn't really see outside stuck in Division), Michael's frown seemed to stretch beyond what his face allowed as he stared intently at Caroline attempting to take down the person she was sparring. Caroline had just made a show of being tossed and pinned to the ground when Michael's hand shot up in the air, signaling the end of the session. "That's enough," his gruff voice rang out. "Caroline, that's the fifth time you've been beaten in two minutes."

Caroline fought the grin trying to form on her face and instead plastered on a look she had mastered during her days as a cheerleader. "Well, maybe next time I'll get it. You know, I was Miss Mystic Falls, so I know a thing or two about -"

"Fine. Fine," Michael sighed before looking up across the room to see Alex watching carefully. "Go take five, I'll be right back," he said absently before walking over to Alex and somehow frowning further.

"I told you," the Russian began. "She's of no use to you or to any of us."

"Keep holding on to you little secrets," Michael replied, shaking his head. "Don't think I don't know she's holding back. Maybe I should talk to Nikita – "

"No!" Alex exclaimed, probably a bit too loudly. "I'll go talk to Caroline. Maybe I can figure out what she's thinking." Before Michael could speak again, Alex was already on her way over to the blonde ex-cheerleader from Mystic Falls.

…

Elijah had successfully followed Klaus all the way to… wait, he actually had no idea where they were. He had been too focused on trying to figure out what Division was and had been lost in thoughts for too long to pay attention to his surroundings. "Niklaus, what is going on? Won't you at least talk to me before you go storming off somewhere you shouldn't be?" Klaus only huffed in response. Elijah sighed for the millionth time that afternoon and continued on with his brother, blind as to what the hybrid could possibly be planning.

After what seemed like an eternity of aimless wandering, Klaus stopped abruptly and smiled. "Here."

Elijah could not, in a million years, predict what his brother was about to do.s

…

"Nikita, Michael is close to figuring out Caroline's secrets. Caroline is good at what she does, but Michael is too suspicious for his own good. He loves you – can't you convince him to drop this?" Alex had spent the last twenty minutes pacing in front of Nikita, and frankly she was starting to make Nikita worried.

"Alex, calm down. You're no good to anyone stressed out. Remember what I taught you. Control yourself." Nikita's calm words soothed Alex to the point where she stopped pacing, but that was as far as the serenity went. Nikita rubbed her temples. "Maybe it would help if you actually told me what big secret Caroline Forbes is hiding. Then I would know how close it was to being exposed." Alex frowned. "What?" Nikita asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Trust me," the younger woman began, "if Care's secret were out, you'd know. _Everyone _would know. It's a big secret."

Nikita rolled her eyes. "You're impossible. Maybe – "

Before she could continue, Birkoff burst into the room, eyes frantic. "Niki, we've got a problem. Someone's found us. They're coming in."

…

Caroline was finally alone in her room, enjoying a moment of peace and quiet. Or, at least, it _was_ peace and quiet until someone set off the alarms. Groaning and getting up, she walked over to her door and cracked it open so she could peer outside. All she could see was someone running down the hall saying something that sounded like "intruders!" Caroline's breath caught in her throat. _Oh no, _she thought, _this can't be… _Taking a deep breath to steel herself for what was to come, she walked out of her room and began looking for Alex. If shit was going to hit the fan, she at least wanted to be with someone who knew what she was capable of.

**A/N: So tell me how this went. I'd love some reviews to see if you guys liked this or if I drifted a little too far from what the story started out as. Thanks for everything, and I'm excited to see what you think. Again, welcome back!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So thanks to one of my best friends (the one I write this story for in the first place), I bring you this sudden and rather large chapter. What started out as a conversation about silver nail polish ended up being the blueprints for what I give you now, so everything that is about to happen is a result of my friend being too nosy for her own good (she's reading this; I know it). **

**To Tiff: I love you, I swear.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own TVD or Nikita.**

So this was life now. A mess of blaring alarms and panicking people trying to appear calm and collected in the midst of utter chaos. And above it all, Caroline still couldn't find Alex. The blonde was lost in her thoughts as she passed the central command room and caught a glimpse of the screens inside. But what captured her interest and stole her thoughts away from Alex was what - or, rather, _who_ \- was on those screens. Caroline cursed under her breath and stopped walking. _Klaus_. After taking note of where he was sneaking into the facility, Caroline made the split second decision to seek him out. Maybe she could convince him to leave before he exposed their kind to the likes of Michael and the rest of Division.

After hurrying (at human speed of course) down white hallway after white hallway, Caroline finally found Klaus just as he was about to head in the opposite direction. "Klaus!" She called, hoping to catch him before he ran off. "Klaus, what are you doing here? How do you know about this place?" She had more questions, of course, but instead opted for looking stern and disapproving.

When Klaus turned and recognized the blonde, his face flooded with relief. "Caroline!" After realizing she had asked him questions, he responded with "well, love, I'm just here to have a little _chat_ with your commanding officers." Cracking his knuckles, he added, "so to speak."

Caroline's face fell. Of course. "Look, Klaus, I appreciate all this, I really do, but..." She sighed. "Actually, I don't. What's gotten into you?" He opened his mouth to give a snarky answer but she cut him off, scrunching up her face and muttering, "Never mind. I don't want to know. Look, Klaus, I'm fine! Please! You don't need to-"

Elijah stumbled into the hallway through the tunnel he and his brother had used to break in. He appeared to steady himself, brush off his suit, and smile at Caroline all in one fluid motion. "Ah, hello Miss Forbes."

"Elijah?" Caroline was dumbfounded. "What? How can you be okay with this?"

Klaus stepped between them, growing angrier as he did so. "What I'm _doing_ is for your own good, Caroline! You shouldn't be here! You should be -" He glanced down the hallway behind Caroline and seemed to forget what he was going to say. "_You_." He spat at the person down the hall. "You're one of the people _slightly_ in charge around here, yes? Because we need to have a chat about dear Caroline."

The sharp intake of breath and the soft sounds of shoes shifting on the tile floor behind her made Caroline spin around, only to face the person she had originally been looking for. Klaus, who was now at Caroline's back, chuckled at Alex's subtle fighting stance. "Who do you think you're dealing with, dear?" His voice was as sweet as honey, his grin mocking. Caroline didn't wait for him to finish - she was afraid this would turn into something even more chaotic if she did. So the blonde walked over to Alex and dragged her away from the ancient brothers, shouting "off limits!" as she went.

Only after the two women had left did Caroline remember the cameras lining the hall and the gruff man who was very likely watching the whole thing. She'd need to remember the cameras everywhere if she had a chance at surviving through to the next day.

...

Caroline waited until the two were safely behind a locked door before turning worriedly to Alex. "Alex, he's not messing around. We have to do something. If we don't, Klaus could easily destroy all of Division."

Alex stepped closer to Caroline and let out an exasperated breath. "Why does he even know about division? _No one_ knows about division unless we want them to. Why -"

"I don't know - he's Klaus," Caroline started, looking around the room for something that could help them. "But at least Elijah is here with him - he should be able to hold his brother back if things get too bad."

Alex's stern voice caused the blonde the stop and look at her old friend in the eyes. "Care... Who are they? What exactly are we dealing with? Are they...?"

Caroline sighed. "Like me? Yes. Dangerous? Extremely."

The Russian thought for a moment before grabbing a map of the facility and unrolling it across a table in the room. "Then we need to make a plan."

Nodding, Caroline began to brainstorm. "We need to get people out of his way, first of all. Maybe I can talk to Elijah and see what the hell is going on with Klaus, but honestly, I have no idea. Klaus usually listens to me. I don't know what's going on, and to be honest it's a little frightening."

Alex looked up from where she'd been drawing on the map and put her hands on Caroline's shoulders for comfort. Taking a deep breath, the brunette collected herself and said, "It's gonna be okay. Here at Division we've been trained for this sort of stuff. Kind of..." Chuckling, Alex trailed off.

Caroline copied Alex and took a deep breath to steady herself. Nodding again, she said, "Alright. Well Klaus is right here," she pointed at the map as she spoke, "and our best bet is to get everyone here. Because he's going to try to get to the people in charge, everyone should stay out of his way - they won't be able to stop him and we might as well try to minimize the amount of people getting hurt. I'll get to him before he gets there and maybe I can convince him to leave..." She looked at her feet before continuing in a softer tone, "or I'll try take him down if he won't submit."

Alex's eyes widened and her mouth opened, seeming to fumble with her words. "But... what about your secret? Michael would flip if he knew, and the government can't know about any of this - the consequences would be too great."

Shaking her head and biting her lip, Caroline shrugged and said, "I'll try to catch him in a place without cameras. But if I can't... Safety is more important than my measly secret... I think."

Alex pursed her lips and looked up at Caroline. "And I'll be with you the whole time. You won't have to do it alone."

Now it was Caroline's turn to look surprised. "What? No, Alex, it's too dangerous. You can't."

"For you, it's worth it." Her lips tilted upwards in a ghost of a smile. "Besides, I just got you back, I'm not going to just let you go without a fight."

Caroline chuckled, before mumbling, "you told me to -" she did air quotes around the phrase "-'cut the shit' when you first saw me here."

Alex stifled a laugh. "In my defense, you'd caught me off guard. This was the last place I would have expected to see you."

"That's fair," Caroline admitted, her smile reaching her eyes.

Alex smirked before pausing and then returning to the task at hand. "Anyway, Care, I _know_ Division. No offense, but you don't know this place like I do. You have to let me do this with you. Also, I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm badass. Just saying."

The two laughed quietly together before simultaneously turning down towards the map finalizing their plan. When they looked back upwards, they were much closer together than they'd anticipated. Seeing eye to eye was one thing neither was especially used to, but in this instant it couldn't have been more perfect. For half a second, Caroline had the fleeting feeling she was supposed to remember something, but in the moment she dismissed the feeling as being faint anxiety.

It was Alex who made the first move, acting without thinking as she was accustomed to doing and pressing her lips the blonde's, more as an act of comfort and a silent "I'm here" than anything else. It surprised Caroline at first, but she didn't pull away. It was weird and uncalled for but sweet and moving all the same.

It was thoughts of Klaus and his present rampage that brought Caroline back to the present. Almost reluctantly, the ex-cheerleader pulled away and cleared her throat, fighting a faint blush as she did so. "I - uh - well," she stuttered, for once struggling to find her words. "Klaus is still on the move. We have to be fast if we're going to catch him. These halls are a maze but it won't be too long before he's figured it all out."

Alex didn't say a word, her small smile doing all the communicating for her. She gave a tiny nod before rolling up the map and securing it with a rubber band. Caroline shrugged to herself, unsure of where to even begin. This certainly was a strange day.

So strange indeed that Caroline had once again forgotten that they were, in fact, in a room with cameras. Upon worriedly bringing this little piece of information up to Alex, the brunette simply smiled, winked, and said, "oh, I know. I know Division, remember?" before walking out of the room.

Caroline had no choice but to follow, confused as ever. It seemed like _everyone_ was off their rocker today.

...

Caroline found Klaus only seconds before Division's defenses did. She watched as teams of operatives patrolled every hallway their cameras found Klaus in, but seconds before they arrived each time he and Elijah would find a way to evade them. This wasn't like Klaus at all – Caroline was sure there would be bloodshed. Maybe Elijah had tamed him. Maybe Klaus just wanted to save his vamp surprise for the people in charge. Caroline had no idea what he had planned, and that terrified her. Sure her time here hadn't been of her own free will, but the way the hybrid was reacting to her predicament made Caroline think he and Division had a past that began long before the ex-cheerleader woke up in a white room.

When she finally got to him before Division's security team, she cornered him and gave her best attempt at making herself look taller. "Klaus, please," she insisted, feeling like every time she saw him she was persuading him not to hurt people. "You can still just walk away. No one has to get hurt." Elijah pursed his lips and seemed content to simply observe the two interact, still following his brother's movements precisely whenever he changed directions.

The hybrid ground his teeth together and shot a short glance down a connecting hallway. He shook his head. "Walk with me," he ground out before turning and leaving Caroline in the dust. She had no choice but to follow, even though she knew that hallway ran parallel to where Birkoff would be attempting to re-secure his security systems and Michael would be monitoring every person's movements via his cameras. While Klaus talked to her, her advanced hearing picked up the sound of Alex talking to Nikita and Ryan. Klaus's and Alex's voices bounced around in her ears and she struggled to focus on both at once.

"Division and I have a history…" Klaus. "…if you'd like to call it that. I knew one of the founders and I agreed to assist with this _institution's_ development if they would in turn keep me updated on their operations and promise to never involve anyone I knew – a form of plausible deniability, maybe. It seemed a decent agreement, and to others it appeared I could 'see the future' as I always knew about Division's targets – I could predict who would die. I used this knowledge to keep people afraid…"

"Nikita's right, we have to move quickly." Alex. "I saw them earlier and they are not messing around. He's headed here right now, we should –"

"Where's Caroline?" Caroline stopped in her tracks, and Klaus turned and raised an eyebrow at her, of course having been listening to the other conversation as well. A knowing grin played at the corners of his mouth, slowly becoming a playful smile. Elijah shook his head at his brother, keeping close watch on both ends of the hall. It was Michael's voice they had heard, and when Caroline recognized that it was him she began walking again, faster this time. The two brothers followed her lead.

Surprisingly, it was Nikita who responded to Michael. "She's attempting to talk the intruders into leaving. She caught sight of them on her way to us here and thought she'd play hero." Earlier in the week Alex had said Nikita had always been a bit of a smooth talker in situations like this. At least more so than Alex ever would be, having much less experience than her mentor. Although the vampires couldn't see Michael's face, from the controlled exhale that pierced their sensitive ears, they knew he was thinking through solutions to their problem.

"Klaus," Caroline began, a plan forming in her head as she spoke, "Leave. Please. I know they broke your deal, even though I still don't know why I'm here…" She trailed off before returning to the topic at hand and continuing in a soft voice only they could hear – she finally remembered the cameras. "…But let me deal with them. I'm already on the inside. You can leave like you were never even here, and I'll see what I can find out. Okay? Please, everyone is safer this way." The sound of what seemed like a million pairs of feet sprinting towards them was making Caroline nervous, and she looked to Elijah as the voice of reason for his brother. Slightly amused, Elijah shrugged his shoulders and turned to his brother to decide. After all, it was the hybrid's fight, not his.

Klaus ground his teeth again and pursed his lips before sighing and saying, in an even softer voice, "Fine. For you. But one more wrong step and I come back and rip all their throats out." He didn't even bother to say goodbye before he and his brother used their speed to flash out of the facility, leaving Caroline standing by herself when the security team finally came. "Where have you been?" Caroline demanded, playing the damsel once more. "I needed you here! They've just gone!" Everyone else in the hallway just looked confused as to where the two intruders had disappeared to. Caroline shook her head in a feigned mix of fear and exasperation as she scrambled away from the armed operatives - her work was done.

…

Back in the main operations room, Birkoff was questioning Caroline about what she had said to make the intruders just up and leave. He was a little annoyed he couldn't hear any of the dialogue from what the camera had recorded, but his curiosity beat out his annoyance.

"I just told them they were outnumbered and outgunned, and it would be better for everyone if they just left," Caroline said innocently, ignoring the stares of disbelief everyone was shooting her way.

"And how did they get away so quickly? We didn't even see them go, they just disappeared!" Birkoff leaned back in his chair, his curiosity growing as he spoke.

"I don't know!" Caroline was getting good at pretending now. "One second they were here and the next… poof! I blinked and they were gone – they must just be insanely fast, right? That's obviously what happened…" She trailed off, making it look like she was lost in thought, trying to figure out was had happened when in reality she knew exactly how they left so quickly.

"Well," it was Ryan who spoke next, which startled the blonde as she'd only heard him speak a number of times. "Nevertheless, it seems you have quite the powers of persuasion, Miss Forbes. And it seems we need someone like you here –"

"She can't even handle herself in a fight!" Michael broke in, and to Caroline's embarrassment, she found that his gaze often flitted awkwardly between her and Alex. _Oh, just perfect, _Caroline thought to herself, _This is exactly what I need right now: more suspicion. _

Ryan nodded at Michael's comment but continued anyway. "I think we should activate you. As an agent, I mean. Most of our agents specialize in combat, not conversation. You could turn out to be quite valuable after all." Caroline was dumbfounded, Nikita fought off a slight grin, Birkoff's eyes widened before he shrugged and went back to his work, Alex looked both terrified and proud, and Michael simply gave an emotionless nod in Caroline's general direction, having seemingly accepted the decision.

"This isn't normally how we do things, I'll have you know," Ryan spoke up again, eyeing Caroline intently, "But you've proven to be a special case, so I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt." She wasn't sure if she should be relieved no one was questioning her further (she was sure no one actually believe her full story) or if she should be terrified that she was now an active agent. Fleetingly, she wondered what her first mission would be. She wouldn't have to wait long to find out, however, as it appeared Ryan was not finished talking.

"And since you're the only one of us who's very familiar with a place called Mystic Falls, Virginia, that is where your first assignment will be. You leave in two weeks. That should be enough time to get you at least marginally combat-ready." He then turned and went to speak to Birkoff about something in the far side of the room, having apparently dismissed Caroline. Meanwhile, Alex had been trying to catch the blonde's eye for the past few minutes and, when Caroline finally looked at her, the brunette widened her eyes and seemed to ask "what really happened?" The vampire hoped a nearly imperceptible nod would communicate to Alex that she would explain later.

Right now she was too preoccupied with the impending reality that she could no longer pretend to be utterly useless.

**A/N: So this happened. Blame the friend, this was her idea (but actually don't blame her because she's perfect). Even though this wasn't originally what I had intended for this story, seeing as how I don't remember my exact plans because I wrote the first chapter two years ago, a new plan seemed logical. Let me know what you think, because at the moment I've got some time on my hands to continue writing, should you guys want me to do so. **


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